User:Hmich176/Universal Mobility, Inc./List of monorail systems
This is a list of monorail systems related to Universal Mobility, Inc. (UMI) and Habegger Engineering Works. All monorails prior to 1968 predate Habegger's relationship with Constam / UMI. These monorail systems were called minirail systems by Habegger, because they were miniature monorail systems that operated in smaller footprints than other monorail systems that operated at the time.
List of minirail systems[edit]
Habegger and Von Roll[edit]
Habegger Maschinenfabrik partnered with Von Roll Corporation to construct two minirail systems, in 1964 and 1965. This partnership ended when Habegger went in their own direction, to construct minirail systems in North America.
| Monorail | Location | Opened | Closed | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monorail | Blackpool Pleasure Beach | 1964
|
2012
|
First Habegger minirail system. Partially relocated from Expo64, opened in 1966 at Blackpool. | |
| Monorail | IVA 65 | 1965
|
1965
|
First system to use Von Roll Mk II trains. |
Habegger and Hawker Siddeley[edit]
Habegger reached an agreement with the Canadian branch of British firm Hawker Siddeley to construct a minirail system for Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec.
| Monorail | Location | Opened | Closed | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minirail | La Ronde | 1967
|
Operating | Only one segment of the system continues to operate. |
Habegger and Constam / Universal Mobility[edit]
With growing interest in monorail systems across the United States, Habegger began selling their minirail system in the United States. They reached an agreement with Salt Lake City firm Constam Corporation to manufacture minirail systems in the United States.[4]
Constam Corporation was reorganized into Universal Mobility, Inc. (UMI) in 1969. A brand name for UMI and Habegger was Unimobile / Habegger and the minirail system was named UNIMOBIL, based off the name of the tire system on their trains. Habegger would experience a liquidity crisis in 1980, eventually being sold to Von Roll in 1982. UMI would suffer a similar crisis in the late 1980s, with the remains of the company being purchased by Bombardier subsidiary Transportation Group, Inc. (TGI), of Orlando, Florida, in 1989.
This list is split into the two types of systems UMI used in their history. UMI developed two other systems, UMI Transporter Type II and UM Type III, neither which were sold and manufactured by UMI. After TGI purchased UMI, they produced a few UM Type III systems. They are not included in this list as they were not manufactured by UMI.
| Monorail | Location | Opened | Closed | Cost (USD) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monorail | California Exposition | 1968
|
Operating | US$2,300,000 (equivalent to $20,200,000 in 2023)
|
|
| Monorail | Hersheypark | 1969
|
Operating | US$1,500,000 (equivalent to $12,500,000 in 2023)
|
|
| Metro | Six Flags Magic Mountain | 1971
|
2001
|
US$1,800,000 (equivalent to $13,500,000 in 2023)
|
| Monorail | Location | Opened | Closed | Cost (USD) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carowinds Monorail | Carowinds | 1973
|
1994
|
US$3,000,000 (equivalent to $20,600,000 in 2023)
|
|
| Monorail | Jungle Jim's International Market | 1974
|
Operating | US$3,500,000 (equivalent to $21,600,000 in 2023)
|
|
| Monorail | King's Dominion | 1975
|
1993
|
||
| Sky Trail | Minnesota Zoological Gardens | 1979
|
2013
|
US$8,400,000 (equivalent to $35,300,000 in 2023)
|
|
| Monorail | Zoo Miami | 1982
|
Operating | ||
| Monorail | 1984 Louisiana World Exposition | 1984
|
1984
|
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Straddle-Steel Box Beam". Technical Pages. The Monorail Society. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
In conjuction with Von Roll, the first installations were in Lausanne in 1964 and Munich in 1965.
- ^ Simons, Jr., David B. "Novelty Monorails - Expo '67". The Monorail Society. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ "Minirail Due". Daily Independent Journal. San Rafael, CA. November 22, 1967. p. 2.
The 6,800-foot driverless train system will be identical to one which shuttled sightseers around Canada's Expo 67. Construction...will be done by the Constam Corporation of Utah and Habegger Engineering of Switzerland. The Swiss firm built Canada's minirail.
- ^ Dickey, John W.; et al. (1983). Metropolitan Transportation Planning (Second ed.). Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation. p. 416.
The minirail, developed by Habegger Maschinen Fabrik in Switzerland and Universal Mobility, Inc., of Salt Lake City, Utah, is comprised of a series of small cars joined into trains that run on top of a small rail.
- ^ "'Minirail' Pact". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 30, 1967.
Constam Corp. of Salt Lake City has been named to participate in construction of a $1,900,000 "minirail" system for the California Exposition in Sacramento. The miniature monorail system will be built by Constam Corp. and Habegger Engineering Works of Thun, Switzerland.
- ^ "Outline Plan To Build New Monorail System In The Hershey Park". Lebanon Daily News. December 17, 1968.
- ^ "Rampton Officiates At Ribbon-Cutting". The Herald. Provo, UT. May 25, 1971. p. 8.
...an automated monorail system built and installed by a Utah firm at Magic Mountain amusement center near Los Angeles, Calif. The $1.5 million monorail was built by Univesal Mobility Inc. of Salt Lake City.
- ^ "2 1/2-Mile Monorail Opens At Carowinds". The Robesonian. Lumberton, NC. May 31, 1973. p. 20.
Two exciting new attractions, a 2 1/2-mile monorail system and a multi-media Carolina Heritage Show, will premier on Saturday, June 2, when Carowinds begins its daily summer operation.
- ^ "Lion country safari opens at Kings Island this Spring". Wilmington News-Journal. Wilmington, OH. March 11, 1974. p. 7.
...McHale said. "Visitors to the park will board a monorail train which will take them on the ground at eye level-height right through the middle of the 100-acre preserve."
- ^ Guido, Anna (July 7, 1999). "Jungle Jim's will add monorail". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
The 180,000-square-foot store in Fairfield, known as much for its flamboyant marketing as its large and varied selection of specialty foods, is adding a monorail system. It will ferry shoppers around what owner Jim Bonaminio dubs his "food theme park." The monorail — which was used for years at Paramount's Kings Island — will circle the outskirts of Mr. Bonaminio's 50-acre property.
- ^ McNear, Bettie (November 26, 1974). "Virginia Safari Park To Get Monorail". The News Journal. Wilmington, DE. p. 12.
Visitor to Kings Dominion's Lion Country Safari near Richmond, Va., will ride through the jungle in a monorail tram next year.
- ^ Wascoe, Jr., Dan (August 28, 1978). "Zoo people-mover to be a first for Minnesota". Star Tribune. p. 1B, 7B.
Bulider of the zoo ride is Universal Mobility, Inc., whose headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. ... the 1977 (Minnesota Legislature) session authorized the zoo to sign a contract providing for the installment purchase of a zoo ride built by someone else...turned out to be a specially created nonprofit corporation called Minnesota Zoo Ride, Inc. It negotiated a contract with Universal Mobility and another one with the zoo board.
- ^ Peterson, David (October 14, 2013). "Monorail cars: Minnesota Zoo's white elephants permanently derailed". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ "Business summary". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 20, 1981. p. 7-E.
Budd Co. agreed to provide financial and technical aid for construction of a monroail transportation system to serve the Metrozoo in Miami, Fla. The major contractor in the $13.5 million project is Universal Mobility Inc., Salt Lake City.
- ^ "Metrozoo: Attractions are boundless, lively at Miami's cageless wonder". Chicago Tribune. January 23, 1983. p. S11-2B.
The new monorail system, opeend Dec. 4, gives visitors a bird's-eye viwe of the extensive grounds on a 30 minute, 2-mile-long ride.
- ^ "Monorail planned for New Orleans". The Times. Shreveport, LA. December 8, 1982. p. 10-A.
The Louisiana World Exposition Authority announced it had awarded the contract to build an maintain the monorail to Unimoble 84 Inc., a joint venture between Universal Mobility Inc. of Salt Lake City and Budd Co. of Detroit. ... Unimobile's president, Hank Pater, said...the trains were entirely computerized and that similar trains on eight other U.S. sites have carried 170 million people since 1967 without major accidents.
- ^ "Fair monorail no longer free". Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, MS. August 26, 1984. p. C-1.
The fair's special finance committee also agreed to give Unimobil 84 Inc., based in Salt Lake City, $1 million worth of fair admission tickets, a $70,000 cash payment and weekly payments totalling about $1 million over the exposition's remaining 11 1/2-week run.